Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CFO Sells $12,212,850.00 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan Li sold 18,789 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.00, for a total transaction of $12,212,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,777,200. This represents a 21.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $657.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $656.04 and a 200 day moving average of $686.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Grove Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,300,000. Alpine Global Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 632 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,038 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,227,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. TD Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, BDFS Capital LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,046,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major AMD GPU agreement strengthens Meta’s AI scale and supplier diversification, supporting long‑term ad/AI monetization potential even as it implies higher capital spending. META Taps AMD GPUs
• Positive Sentiment: Report that Meta will rent Google TPUs to accelerate model development gives the company faster access to compute and reduces dependence on any single vendor, aiding short‑term AI progress. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s quarterly cash dividend ($0.525/share) adds a modest income component and can help stabilize the stock amid a heavy AI capex cycle. MarketBeat META overview
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reportedly planning a stablecoin/payments pilot in H2 2026 — a long‑term monetization opportunity that could boost creator payouts and cross‑border settlement, but timing, partners and regulation remain key uncertainties. CoinDesk: Meta stablecoin plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest in META declined meaningfully in February, reducing a potential downside crowd and making rallies easier to sustain (short‑covering risk lower).
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO Susan Li reported large share sales (most recently disclosed Feb. 24 filing), and COO Javier Olivan sold shares — routine but can be interpreted negatively by some investors. SEC filing: Susan J. Li sale
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing litigation and regulatory scrutiny — high‑profile U.S. trial over alleged social‑media harm and EU antitrust disputes — keep headline risk and potential compliance costs elevated. Reuters: social‑media trial Reuters: EU court adviser on antitrust
• Negative Sentiment: AI talent movement (e.g., OpenAI hiring a Meta researcher) and high ongoing capex projections (guidance points to elevated 2026 spending) are reminders that competition for talent and costly infrastructure could pressure margins before long‑term gains materialize. Reuters: OpenAI hires Meta researcher

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.44.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.